recruitment process automation

Talent Sourcing: A 9-Step Guide for Hiring Top Talent

When it comes to hiring new employees, talent sourcing is an important process that is critical to the overall success of the organization. By looking at potential talent pools carefully, you'll ensure that you're selecting the right people for the right job.

In this blog post, we'll introduce The Digital Recruiter in our discussion of talent acquisition sourcing details and provide you with insights into why it's so important...as well as outline the 10-steps involved in finding the right talent for your business. So read on to learn more about this vital process!

What is Talent Sourcing?

Talent sourcing is one of the most important steps of recruitment. It's the process of identifying, attracting, and engaging the best talent for your organization. Talent sourcing in this article is focused on setting up the success of your sourcing to identify more top people. This includes the type of recruitment messages that will help ensure the top candidates are open to discussing your job opportunity. So, make sure to put talent sourcing at the top of your recruitment to-do list!

Why sourcing talent should be part of your recruiting strategy

Hiring the right talent is essential to any company's success. So, it's crucial to hire the best people from the start. Make sure to have a hiring strategy that includes sourcing talent. This can take time and resources, but it's worth it in the end. By doing so, you'll be able to build a strong and effective team that can help you achieve your goals.

It’s important to find the best candidates for your job

When searching for talent, it is important to consider a number of qualities, including skills, experience, and a match to your company culture. It's also important to screen candidates for motivation to do the job. By doing this, you'll be able to find the perfect candidate for the position and ensure that they're excited about joining your team. Getting extraordinary talent on board is essential for any company, and sourcing talent correctly can make all the difference.

Avoid the cost of a bad hire

Hiring the right people for your company is a top priority, and sourcing talent should be part of your recruiting strategy. By understanding what a bad hire costs a company, you're able to make informed hiring decisions that will result in positive outcomes for your organization.

Some of the problems that can occur when hiring the wrong person include lost productivity, increased customer complaints, staff turnover, and more.

A bad hire can cost a company 30% of the employee's first-year salary according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The total expense could amount to many thousands of dollars over the course of a year.

9 Steps involved in finding the right talent for your business

There are a few key steps that you need to take to find the best candidates. Your hiring process should follow a specific order based on logical reasoning. As part of this, make sure to keep in mind the budget and time constraints that will be placed on your hiring process. By following these simple steps, you're sure to find the right talent for your business.

1. Get on the Same Page with the Hiring Manager and Team

When hiring for your business, it is essential to meet with the hiring manager in order to get a thorough understanding of what a top candidate must do to be successful. Ask about the most important tasks and goals this person needs to accomplish in the first six to twelve months to be successful.

You should also inquire about why a top person would want to work for your company, and what the must-have skills and background are. It is also important to ask about the nice to have skills and background, as not all positions require them.

Everyone on the hiring team should review the hiring criteria that will be used to source the best candidate and agree this is what they will use as the basis and foundation to fill the job!

2. Develop a Talent Sourcing Plan First Thing

Developing a talent sourcing plan is an important first step in this process.

Finding the best candidates for your business is essential for success. By following a systematic recruitment process, you will be able to identify top candidates and hire the best ones for your position.

A well-crafted sourcing plan can also help an organization save time and money by reducing the need to cast a wide net in its search for candidates. Identifying what the job success factors are before focusing on the specific skills and qualifications that are most important for the job is critical to opening the candidate pool to find the best candidates. Your sourcing plan will help you narrow your focus and target only the most qualified candidates.

Your plan will include timeframes, budget constraints, and channels that are most likely to produce top candidates. Once you have finalized this plan, it is important to measure the success of your recruitment process and adapt or tweak it as needed. This way, you can ensure that you're hiring the best people for your business and achieve the desired results.

3. Create an EVP - Employee Value Proposition

An EVP is a statement that articulates what an organization can offer employees in return for their skills, experience, and commitment. It goes beyond traditional benefits and compensation to encompass the totality of the employment experience. EVPs can be used to attract top talent, engage, and retain employees, and build a strong employer brand.

When crafting an EVP, organizations should consider the needs and wants of their target employees. What will resonate with them? What will motivate them to come to work every day and give their best? EVPs should be authentic and aligned with the organization's culture, values, and business strategy.

Your EVP should focus mostly on the intrinsic values of your job as explained in more detail below.

4. Develop an Ideal Candidate Persona

In the context of job candidates, a persona can be used to represent an ideal candidate for a particular role. Creating a persona can help you focus your recruiting efforts and target your marketing messages.

When creating a persona for job candidates, consider factors such as:

  • The skills and experience that are required for the role
  • What their intrinsic motivators are
  • The personal qualities that would make someone a good fit for the role
  • The type of person that would be interested in the role
  • Who else might know the person to include a 360-degree perspective?

5. Source Your ATS Creatively

When it comes to finding the right talent for your business your first step is using your ATS (applicant tracking system) to see if you have top candidates who may already be familiar with your company. Secondly, make note of any people in your ATS that might be good referral sources. Once you have identified potential candidates, it is important to reach out to them and gauge their interest in working for your company.

Creative Tip: Remember to also consider those in your ATS that might be in a position to know a top person. Reach out to them with a referral message.

6. Tap into Employee Networks

Utilizing your access to networking with your employees is one way to get started by tapping into employee networks. This will allow you to connect with qualified candidates who are looking for a new job and can help you identify potential employees who may be a good fit for your company. By creating a positive environment and providing opportunities for growth and development, you create a culture of trust that will encourage talented people to join your team.

One important thing to remember is that you should have a proactive part of your program that reminds employees to think about the best person they know who might be able to do the job. Not just who may be actively looking for a job.  

Additionally, it is important to have a process in place for letting your employees know about job vacancies so that they easily provide information.

7. Utilize Social Media Channels

Social platforms can be a great tool to use in your sourcing toolbox. By using these media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, you can post jobs and reach out to potential candidates directly.

Additionally, by using LinkedIn to connect with professionals in your field and asking for feedback and referrals, you can improve the quality of candidates that you source. This can include LinkedIn groups dedicated to the professional groups of which your ideal candidate may be a member.

8. Target Passive Candidates

One of the best ways to find the best people is by targeting passive candidates - those who are not actively looking for a job but may be open to one if it is the right fit.

By keeping your first approach as brief and personalized as possible, you'll make sure that these individuals feel appreciated and heard. In addition, make sure you focus heavily on why they would want the job by incorporating your Employee Value Proposition. This will position you as an employer that is looking out for their employees' best interests, which will assist you to attract the best talent.

9. Utilize Digital Recruitment Strategies

Bradford Consulting has developed a highly targeted approach that allows employers to incorporate multiple tools in combination with LinkedIn to contact passive candidates. We call The Digital Recruiter. This approach can be executed at scale across multiple jobs and geographic locations.

You will also be able to reduce your reliance on external recruiting services and save many thousands of dollars in the process.

This solution will save the recruiting staff multiple hours and allow you to fill jobs faster. The investment for using this tool/solution is positioned to offer an amazing ROI which your recruiting budget is sure to love! 

Explore how this solution will work for you 24/7. Contact Carl Bradford today using his calendar link.

Create a Compelling Recruiting Message

When recruiting new talent, it is essential to craft a compelling recruiting message that will attract the top candidates. Remember to focus on what's in it for the candidate primarily.

Use your employee value proposition to create a message that speaks to them on a personal level. And finally, make sure to tie the importance of the job to the overall company mission. By doing this, you'll create a sense of urgency and ensure that the candidate chooses your company over others.

Use 80% Intrinsic Motivation Message

When recruiting top talent, it is important to use intrinsic motivation. This means persuading potential employees to join your company based on their own interests and desires, rather than because they are required to. To tap into this powerful recruitment tool, focus on offering employees interesting tasks that they can be proud of and passionate about.

This way, you'll be able to attract top talent who are motivated by intrinsic factors - meaning they want to do something because they enjoy it, not because they are required to.

Include 20% Extrinsic Motivation Message

By including compelling extrinsic motivation like salary, benefits, candidate and working conditions in your recruiting message, you'll be able to stand out from the rest. However, more importantly, make sure that you emphasize more about the intrinsic job information - things like company culture and the opportunity to work with innovative technologies. This way, you'll be able to attract top people into your talent pipeline who would want to know about the job itself, as well as the potential opportunities it offers.

Craft Personalized Email Sequences

When recruiting top talent, it is essential to connect with your candidates on a personal level. Use emotional language in your recruitment messages to make them more engaging and capture the candidate's attention. Additionally, create email sequences that focus on why a top candidate would be interested in your job opportunity.

Tailor each email sequence to highlight the specific reasons why that candidate would be a perfect fit for your company. By doing this, you'll make sure that you grab their attention and convert them into top employees.

Create Multi-Step Campaigns

Sending out recruitment emails can be a daunting task, but with the right strategy and tools in place, it can be a lot easier. Research shows that getting a reply from your outreach candidate sourcing doesn't solicit a response until the 3rd or 4th email.

This means that you send out emails over a period of time, increasing the chances of being accepted by the candidate.

A multi-step recruiting campaign is often referred to as a 'Drip' campaign. Make sure that your email content is relevant and compelling, and that you test different time intervals between your outreach messages to see which works best for them. Be patient - hiring the best talent takes time, but with the right strategy it can be well worth it!

Use all of the Best Talent Sourcing Tools

Finding the right talent is essential for any business and can be a daunting task. Luckily, today’s AI - Artificial Intelligence - tools can make the process much easier (see below). These tools can identify and review candidates quickly and easily, making it easier to find the right talent for your needs.

When you source candidates, use the best tools available to you. These tools will help you screen candidates for potential fit, skills, and experience, making the hiring process much easier. So, don't wait - put these tools to work and find the best talent for your company!

Job boards

Job boards are sources that you should use, but they will not access passive candidates which can be a key resource to hire top people.

Make sure that you post high-quality job openings that target a specific audience, and make sure to compare costs before deciding. There are many different job boards out there, so it can be difficult to decide which one to use. Consider niche job boards that cater to specific occupational jobs.

Company websites

When thinking about the sourcing process for your business, it is important to have a careers section with easily seen navigation links in your menus. Make sure this section of your company website has an easily accessible search feature to locate your EVP-based jobs.

Always include a strategy to capture candidates that may not fit a current opening but are willing to provide their resume on LinkedIn link so you can include them in your recruiting pipeline for the future. This way, you'll be sure that all of your bases are covered when sourcing talent for your business.

Social media sites

When it comes to sourcing talent, social media sites should be included in your talent sourcing strategy. By using social media, you can connect with key professionals with the right skillset for your company.

Make sure you post clear and concise job descriptions that match the requirements of the position.

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are great tools for finding people with specialized skillsets. So, use them wisely, and you're bound to find extraordinary talent for your next project!

Artificial Intelligence Recruiting Tools

Employing the best talent is essential for any business, and technology has made the process a lot easier. Using AI recruiting tools allows you to find qualified candidates quicker and more efficiently, making your recruiters more efficient. AI recruiting tools have become incredibly competitive, and some are better than others and others are specialized to specific job types.

Deploy a Digital Recruiter Solution

The Digital Recruiter deployed by Bradford Consulting is an innovative approach that allows employers to leverage LinkedIn in combination with other tools for targeting passive candidates. This scalable solution can be executed at scale across any job and geographic location.

This solution will offer an amazing return on investment for your recruiting budget-saving hours each week spent sourcing passive candidates who are sure not only love our tool but also contribute positively toward achieving success within their organization.

Give your recruiting staff back many hours every week that they would previously put into finding passive candidates externally so they can pick up the process with candidates who are interested in your opportunities and expedite them through to the job offer stage. Faster and more efficient.

Conclusion

Creating a talent pool of the best people is an essential part of the HR departments for businesses of all sizes. By understanding the steps involved in talent sourcing, you can find qualified candidates that fit your needs and expectations.

No more wasted time and effort - find the best candidates quickly and easily with our Digital Recruiter solution. Schedule a call today to learn more about how The Digital Recruiter can help you. Let us help you find the right candidate for your next role. Our solution will work for you 24/7.


 Thank you for reading!

About the Author

Carl Bradford's background includes 30+ years as an HR Director, Executive Search Professional, Trainer for 2000+ recruiters and an expert in Performance-based Hiring methods. Carl has certified recruiters in this method since 1999.